# Matilda International Hospital

Matilda International Hospital is a private hospital located at 41 Mount Kellett Road, The Peak, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong.The hospital was built as a result of the last will and testament of Granville Sharp, the husband of Matilda Lincolne Sharp. Granville Sharp was a successful banker descended from the well-known Sharp family of Romsey, Hampshire, United Kingdom, another member of which was 'Conversation' Sharp.

## History

Originally from the UK, Granville Sharp and his wife Matilda moved to Hong Kong, after becoming newlywed in India, making landfall in the Territory on Christmas Day – a time of giving – in 1858. Theirs is an incredible story of fortitude in the face of shipwreck and piracy in the South China seas, grit and determination in the disease-wracked colony and quiet generosity.
Above all, however, their lives in Hong Kong stand as a towering testament to their compassion for the loss of their fellow beings, as exemplified, among many other examples, by Matilda's work for widows and orphans.
While Granville successfully struck out into commerce on his own as so many in Hong Kong have done before and since, Matilda set about relieving suffering wherever she met it, further etching an indelible affection on her husband's heart as well as that of the Western and Chinese communities she came to know so well. Matilda died in 1893, and Granville bequeathed a hospital to be constructed in his wife's memory upon his own death. Granville set out in his will, in extraordinary detail, his bequest to Hong Kong – a hospital to be constructed "not for the glory of the medical profession... but for the benefit, care and happiness of the patient."
The hospital admitted its first patients in 1907, at that time providing free care to expatriates. Non-British were barred from The Peak by legislation, and could not benefit from being treated in the hospital. Although the strictures of the bequest have been adapted to changing circumstances over time, the spirit of the will remains intact a century after it was penned. Matilda assumed the character and resilience of its namesake weathering financial crises, typhoons, war and even plague – turning out extraordinary people at extraordinary times.
In the past it was known as the Matilda Memorial & War Hospital, but it has been renamed Matilda International Hospital (MIH), and is a not-for-profit hospital serving all the people of Hong Kong and the wider region. It provides core services, including maternity, orthopaedics and spine, surgical, health assessment and outpatient services.
The Matilda Medical Centre (MMC) was opened in the Central area of Hong Kong to mark the hospital's centenary celebration in 2007, and has extended its services to serve a wider public and corporate clients.
The Matilda Orthopaedic and Spine Centre opened in the year of 2017, with the outpatient clinic at the peak and central.
Governance and accreditations:
In 2003 Matilda became the first private hospital in Hong Kong to implement the concept of clinical governance. The idea of clinical governance is to apply a systematic approach to maintaining and improving the quality of patient care within a health system. In 2010 it adopted the standards of the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS), becoming fully ACHS accredited in December 2010. In 2023 The hospital became the first amongst all ACHS International members to be awarded accreditation with an 'Outstanding Achievement' for the ACHS International Evaluation and Quality Improvement Program (7th Edition) (EQIP7), including the Advanced Person-Centred Systems (PCS) Module. These awarded accolades serve as a testament to Matilda International Hospital's commitment to achieving and maintaining exceptional standards across a wide range of crucial service criteria, aligning with their founder's vision to be ‘for the benefit, care, and happiness of patients’.